On Thursday, Feb. 26, Stony Brook University held an event where New York Times Bestseller Eddie Glaude Jr., Ph.D. discussed his new book, “We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For,” and the topic of anti-racism.
Executive Vice President and Provost Carl Lejuez hosted the lecture, where the two discussed how to pursue self-cultivation and the 100-year legacy of African American writer James Baldwin.
“America is, perhaps, an idea, but it is also an argument,” Glaude said in his opening statement. “A fight might be a better description — a fight over its meanings in the broad application of its principles with bodies often left in the weight.”
Lejuez began the discussion by asking Glaude, “Do you believe it’s important to demand a new edition of [a] Baldwin’s classic, a revised edition in which the N-word will be edited out?”, to which Glaude disagreed without hesitation. He then added, “Each sentence is crafted. That word was put there for a reason to startle you, to confront you with the reality that he’s trying to confront.”
Afterwards, Lejuez mentioned how Patrice Nganang, a professor of Africana Studies, conducted a poll in his class and found that 73% of the students agreed that the N-word is an important part of Baldwin’s literature and should not be removed from his works.
One student in particular, SK Hossin, a freshman majoring in globalization studies and international relations, said that he voted to keep the N-word in the story because “it is part of the book, along with its history.”
Throughout his newest book, Glaude discusses Ella Baker, an African American civil rights activist, and her idea of using individual strengths to pursue a culture of tending. In response, Lejuez asked how administrators, especially those at Stony Brook, can overcome their personal limitations and vulnerabilities to create a culture of care in an academic setting. Glaude then stressed the importance of being an individual within a community.
“These are actual human beings on the ground with needs, desires, ambitions, hopes,” Glaude said. And the moment we start treating the stakeholders of our institutions in these abstract ways, then we can make decisions right.”
Glaude also emphasized the contradictions in America. He explained that if Americans can follow ordinary television shows, then they can also follow complex arguments. He continued by stating that Americans tend to live off surface-level news and never dive into it headfirst. He then mentioned how his mother, who did not finish her educational journey after dropping out of school in the ninth grade, attributed her lack of education to his approach of explaining complex concepts in ways that can be easily understood.
Glaude also spoke about the idea of not being able to “choose your inheritance, but you can damn sure choose your ancestors.” He explained how in life, you can look to others for resources or mentorship, but you cannot deny the inheritance of who made you who you are today. He stressed how parents are the wind beneath people’s wings, and that they can either help us fly or hold us down.
Sheikh Gony, a freshman majoring in history, shared his experience by attending a discussion of this nature for the first time.
“It’s a conversation that I’ve heard before, but it is one we need to hear more often,” he said. “This is my first event I’ve been to like this, and it won’t be my last,” Gony added.
In Glaude’s concluding statement, he painted a picture for listeners: “Imagine the parchment on which the Declaration [of Independence] and the Constitution are written,” he said. “Imagine the inkwell spilling all over it. The only way to see the writing is to hold it up to a candlelight. That’s the way race functions in the United States. It stains everything.”
He emphasized that the staining is not related to Black people, but it instead portrays the conception of disseminating whiteness throughout America.
